A resurgence of cholera in Haiti —after three years without a single reported case — is threatening the health and well-being of 1.2 million children in and around Port-au-Prince, UNICEF warned as it joined other UN agencies in support of an emergency response.
Containing the outbreak is complicated by a surge in gang violence and a fuel crisis. Basic health, water and sanitation and other key services have become severely restricted in the capital and surrounding areas. Gangs have blocked access to a key port, preventing essential supplies from getting through. Tens of thousands of children and others are at risk of going without medical care.
“With the rising violence and insecurity, many of the poorest Haitian families have no option but to drink and use unsafe water,” said Bruno Maes, UNICEF Representative in Haiti. “Families are unable to buy soap to wash their hands, garbage is not collected in the streets, hospitals are closed or unable to operate. All these ingredients have turned Haiti into a time bomb for cholera. Now it has exploded.”
Malnutrition risks are increasing for children in Cité Soleil, where the first two cholera cases of the current outbreak were confirmed on Oct. 2, raising concerns that some children may die due to lack of access to treatment and other support services.
UNICEF has also voiced concern about schools being closed to students, jeopardizing the start of a new academic year for 2.4 million children. Gangs have attacked, looted or seized control of many schools in Port-au-Prince.
Locals pitch in to help transport hygiene kits from UNICEF in Les Cayes, one of many areas of Haiti where poor access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene increases health risks for children.© UNICEF/UN0511633/Crickx
UNICEF is supporting the government’s cholera response by providing water purification tablets, soap and water tanks and bladders for distribution to affected areas. UNICEF is also supplying chlorine to support plans to treat the Port-au-Prince water supply, disinfect households and equip health centers.
UNICEF has also joined other UN agencies in a public information campaign urging more proactive prevention measures at the household level.
“[O]ur most urgent concern is not only to buy and deliver safe water, chlorine and soap,” Maes said, “but to find ways to reach the poorest families in the areas controlled by the gangs.”
UNICEF’s humanitarian action plan in Haiti for 2022 prioritizes improving access to clean water — which is essential for preventing disease as well as child malnutrition — and supporting the country’s ongoing recovery from the 2021 earthquake, which devastated Haiti’s southwest region. That plan remains critically underfunded.
UNICEF depends on voluntary contributions to deliver for vulnerable children and families. Support UNICEF’s emergency response in Haiti. Donate today.
Top photo: A student attends class in Haiti with UNICEF-provided school supplies on hand. UNICEF is concerned about children’s ability to attend school due to rising gang violence in the Greater Port-au-Prince area and a cholera outbreak, the country’s first in three years. © UNICEF/UN0717600/